


a favour

by fangirl_squee



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Baking, F/F, Femslash February, Gardens & Gardening, Rosana/Hadrian mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-24 21:07:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13819467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl_squee/pseuds/fangirl_squee
Summary: Hadrian asks Hella to check in on Rosana while he's away. Hella begrudgingly agrees.





	a favour

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to maddie for looking this over, I would be lost without you

Hella frowned at the empty streets ahead of her as she headed towards Hadrian’s home, annoyed at the chore that lay ahead of her. If Hadrian were not such a solid battle companion, she would have laughed in his face. Still, that didn’t mean she would have to  _ enjoy _ pointlessly walking across half the city each day.

 

She sighed as Hadrian’s house came into view, small and a little slouched against its neighbours, but well kept. Better get this over with, then at least she could enjoy the rest of her day.

 

Hella knocked on the door, crossing her arms as she waited. It didn’t take long for Rosana to answer, a mixing bowl propped onto one hip. Puffs of flour dotted her faded green apron, and there was a streak of flour along one cheekbone. The smell of cooking wafted out from behind her.

 

Rosana let out a warm huff of laughter. “Hella, what a surprise.”

 

“I’ve come to see if you need anything,” said Hella, voice flat.

 

Rosana pressed her lips together for a moment. “I do, actually. Come in.”

 

She turned and walked back into the house, leaving Hella no choice but to follow her. Hella followed the sound of Rosana to the kitchen. Rosana turned, smiling up at her as she pressed the mixing bowl into Hella’s hand.

 

“Knead this,” said Rosana, “I’m going to do the filling.”

 

Hella frowned down at her, looking from the bowl and back up to Rosana.

 

“Over on the counter,” said Rosana, “it’s already floured.” She paused. “You  _ did _ ask if I needed anything.”

 

Hella let out a long breath. Hadrian  _ owed  _ her for this.

 

She began to knead the pastry, long-forgotten muscle memory coming back to her. She listened with half an ear to Rosana’s humming behind her, a different rhythm to the Ordennan folk songs that had been the staple of her childhood, and the sound of Ben playing outside, which was not so different to how her own childhood had sounded.

 

Hella reached for the rolling pin without thinking, following the next step in her mind the same as she would in battle. She looked up to see Rosana watching her, her hands still on the cutting board.

 

“What,” said Hella, more of a grunt than a word.

 

Rosana raised her eyebrows. “Nothing. Hadrian needed more direction the first time, that’s all.”

 

Hella shrugged. “Not my first time.”

 

“Ah,” said Rosana, turning back to her own work.

 

The sound of the knife against the wood of the chopping board added to the rhythm behind Rosana’s song. Hella let it guide her pace as she rolled out the pastry, keeping her pressure smooth and even.

 

“It’s probably right to go back in the icebox now,” said Rosana, after a while.

 

Hella suppressed a flinch an the sudden sound, nodding. Rosana stepped forward and she stepped back to give her room, watching as Rosana carefully folded the pastry and covered in. Hella held the lid of the icebox open for her.

 

Rosana smiled up at her again. “Thank you.” She took a short breath in, as though she were considering her next words carefully. “Would you like a cup of tea, while we let it rest?”

 

Hella shrugged again. “Sure.”

 

The silence between them was warmed by the soft summer breeze coming in through the window, and the smell of the vegetables cooking on the stove. They sat across from each other. Hella traced a mark though the light dusting of flour on the table that had flaked off from her hands.

 

Rosana took a small sip of the tea. “I  _ did  _ tell him I didn’t need to be checked in on, you know.”

 

Hella snorted. “I told him the same thing, but he chewed my ear off until I agreed.”

 

“It sounds as if we might have gotten the same speech,” said Rosana.

 

“I hope not,” said Hella, “the one he gave me made it sound like you could barely hold a cup on your own.”

 

Rosana rolled her eyes, her smile warm. “Then our speeches were not so different. Anyone would think Our Lord Samothes was the God Of Unfounded Worries.”

 

Hella laughed, the bright sound of it almost startling to her own ears. “Hadrian makes a strong case for it.”

 

Rosana giggled behind her cup,. The sound of it wriggled, warm, inside Hella’s chest.

  
  


\--

  
  


Hella helped roll the pastry out again, watching Rosana cut careful marks into them before she slid them into the oven. Hella wiped her hands on her pants when they were finished, glancing at where her sword hung on the back of the chair. She should probably get going, even if this hadn’t been as much of a chore as she’d thought.

 

“They’ll be done soon,” said Rosana. “Would you like to stay for dinner? It seems only fair, after your help with them.”

 

“You didn’t really need my help,” said Hella.

 

Rosana smiled up at her. “No, I didn’t. But I would still like you to stay, if you have no other plans.”

 

“I suppose,” said Hella. She rubbed her hands on her pants again, feeling the grit of the flour against the rough fabric. “Anything else you need done?”

 

Rosana hummed. “Well, I suppose you could help me in the garden.”

 

“Not that you need my help,” said Hella.

 

Rosana nodded, grinning. “Exactly.”

 

Hella followed her into the garden. She spent the rest of the afternoon pulling at weeds, the stack next to her growing slowly as she worked. Periodically Ben would abandon the game he was playing to watch her work, even pulling at the weeds himself, his face wrinkling in concentration.

 

She glanced up from time to time, watching Rosana work across the garden when she could be sure the other woman’s focus was elsewhere. Perhaps she was less skilled at swordwork than Hella, as Hadrian had told her during his long, worried speech when he asked for the favour, but in all other aspects she seemed well enough, her hands moving as confidently through the dirt as they had when she cooked.

 

The sun was low in the sky when Rosana called Hella and Ben back inside. Hella could hear Ben chattering to Rosana as she washed up, the gentle sounds of the end of a day. She caught sight of herself in the mirror, soft smile quickly turning into a frown. This was not her gentle life. She was only here to look in, to make sure all stayed well until Hadrian returned.

 

Hella swallowed, looking away from her reflection. She should get her sword and leave. She’d more than checked in on things today, certainly enough to ease Hadrian’s mind. She headed back down towards the kitchen, wishing she’d left her sword by the front door for a swifter exit.

 

“Ben’s just washing up,” said Rosana, “He’ll set the table once he’s done, it’s-- Hella?”

 

Hella tensed, trying to keep the outer appearance of casual and failing miserably. “I have to go, I can’t-- I have to go.”

 

Rosana stepped closer step, her footfalls soft on the stone floor. “Because you want to, or because you feel you have to?”

 

Hella licked her lips. “I have to,” she said quietly, looking down at her feet.

 

Rosana stepped closer still, close enough to reach for Hella’s hand, where it had clenched itself into a fist by her side. She smoothed her fingers along Hella’s knuckles, soothing, until Hella’s hand was loosened in her’s. Her hands were soft against the rough calluses of Hella’s palm.

 

“I will not stop you if you try to leave,” said Rosana, “but I would like you to stay.”

 

She threaded their fingers together, her hand warm. Hella felt as though she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, couldn’t stop looking at where her and Rosana’s hands were intertwined. They fit together, as perfectly as sword into sheath.

 

“Okay,” she managed, “Okay I’ll stay,”

 

Rosana smiled up at her, soft and sweet. “Good.”

  
  


\--

  
  


Dinner was good, and warm, and filling, and it did not take much persuading on Rosana’s part to convince Hella to sit with her in their lounge instead of heading out into the night. Ben played by the fire, talking softly to himself about battles and kings, his face serious in the firelight. It was a different face, but it was an expression Hella knew well.

 

“I can see a lot of Hadrian in him,” said Hella.

 

Rosana smiled. “Most people say they cannot see any in him at all, expect for when they’re both next to each other in church.”

 

Hella hesitated, not sure if this was something she should walk back, but she’d never been one to apologise for what she said. “Well they just aren’t paying enough attention.”

 

Rosana smiled again, leaning closer towards Hella on the couch. She put a hand over Hella’s. “That is what I think, too.”

 

Her hand was so warm against Hella’s skin, the heat of it sinking through Hella’s body. She leant a little more towards Rosana, like a flower leaning towards the sun. Rosana leant forward again, pressing a kiss to Hella’s cheek, the touch of her lips soft and fleeting.

 

Hella followed her touch, tilting her head and kissing Rosana. She felt Rosana smile against her lips, the hand that wasn’t tangled in Hella’s sliding warm over the back of Hella’s neck. Hella sighed, relaxing into her for a moment before she drew back sharply.

 

”Hadrian?” 

 

She wasn’t quite sure how to ask it, but Rosana had been pretty good so far at drawing out meaning from her few words.

 

“My husband knows me.” Rosana cupped Hella’s cheek in her palm. ”There is a reason he asked you to look in on me, after all.”

 

Hella’s breath hitched in her throat, and she lent down towards Rosana again. This kiss was deeper, a deeper promise hidden in the heat of it.

 

Rosana leant back after a moment, glancing to where Ben was still playing before settling herself against Hella’s side. Hella slid her arms around Rosana’s waist, holding her close.

 

She tilted her head up, pressing a light kiss against the underside of Hella’s jaw. “Stay the night.”

 

Hella looked to where their hands were clasped loosely together, Rosana’s skin warm against her’s. “Okay.”

 

Perhaps traveling across the city each day would not be such a terrible chore after all.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi: mariusperkins on most places


End file.
